Engulfed
by Shattered Serenity
Summary: She was trapped inside herself. He was just there to pick up the pieces.
1. The Capture

**Disclaimer:** No own, no sue.

* * *

Twenty-two-year-old Kairi straightened her mussed hair and groggily squinted at the small print on the document laid out before her. _Twenty pounds of freshly ground cinnamon shipped from the home base: 20 munny._ She blew out a tired sigh. _Well, I suppose that's reasonable enough. At least I don't have to pay for the shipping expenses. This island is small enough to just take a ten minute drive to the cinnamon factory._ Another sigh came out as she flicked her pen quickly across the line marked with an x. _Ten pounds of raw catfish straight from the home base again: 100 munny._ Kairi frowned at the price and decided to reject that offer. It was not hard to get 20 pounds of catfish from the Destiny Islands; she could have if from Disney Castle in about a week and it would only cost 50 munny! Her agitation growing, she snorted at the paper and happily put it into her shredder.

The happy mood dissipated as she looked at the tiny mountains of paperwork that had yet to be finished. A strong feeling of hopelessness clouded her judgment to just get them done and over with. After all, Kairi had always been the one to procrastinate. _I always work better under pressure anyways._ That had been her excuse for the last ten years and she was sticking to it. So with that in mind, and her mood starting to lift once more, she grinned and stretched back, her arms flopping to her side in a pile of messy, tired flesh. _I love procrastination._

"Kairi!" Said a small, squeaky voice from her right.

The woman in question just felt like moaning and rubbing her eyes with frustration, but resisted the urge and put on a humble smile. "Why, Mrs. Naiko, how nice to see you this lovely evening!"

The old woman known as Mrs. Naiko wobbled up to Kairi and slapped some precariously typed papers atop her already paper-filled desk. In despair, the younger woman looked at the fresh pile of paper. _Think about how many trees I've killed just today._ She felt like whimpering but retained any ounce of dignity she had left and resumed her generous smile.

"Don't you get too comfortable, young woman!" Mrs. Naiko's voice was high pitched and strung to the point of almost breaking.

Kairi nodded. "Of course not, Mrs. Naiko." She humbly said and lightly bowed to the older woman.

In return, said older woman just let out a humph and diligently crossed her arms, signaling that she wanted to talk with Kairi more than the latter would have liked. "As you know, our business has been blossoming."

She felt like telling Mrs. Naiko that it was _her_ business, and she had a right to take care of it how she pleased but kept her mouth shut tightly. "And I for one am seeing you incredibly stressed." The old woman motioned to the small valley of paper hills on Kairi's desk. "I mean-look at this! It's a horrible mess!"

_Well, I try._ Kairi thought sourly.

"And look at you! You're twenty and supposed to be thriving, not picking over whether you should order thirty pounds of seaweed curry or not!" _Twenty-two…_

She sighed tiredly and unconsciously arranged mussed papers back into order. "What are you trying to say, Mrs. Naiko?"

"If that's what you want, then I had best just get down with it." A steady frown came to nestle itself on the older lady's lips. "Kairi, you need a break."

Dead silence filled the room as the younger fiercely gazed at Mrs. Naiko.

"No." Came Kairi's immediate answer, and the old woman felt a pang of remorse. "I can't leave all this paperwork behind, and I certainly can't leave you behind to take care of the business!" An accusing finger pointed at the agape mouth of Mrs. Naiko. "I have too much to do as it is! Leaving this place is like setting it on fire and waving goodbye to it. Nope, I will most certainly not do that. It's unethical and preposterous. To leave the company _alone_ without any of my assistance? It's…It's blasphemy!"

In her disbelieving state, Kairi unconsciously started to organize her messy mountains of paper and wipe dust off of her dark wooden desk. She even left her chair, still rambling, and occasionally glanced at the shocked older woman. "To leave it in the hands of anyone but me would be suicide! I might as well give up all my money now and think of a way to hang myself on the streets of destitution!"

"Now you're going too far, missy…" But the woman's statement went unnoticed by the enraged Kairi. Clearly, Mrs. Naiko did not take a liking to this Kairi; she preferred her humble, sweet but cunning version of the pretty girl.

"And-and then I'll have no home. And I'll blame you!" The younger woman pointed another accusing finger at her elder, glancing down and sizing the old woman up. "And _then_ we'll see who is also in unemployment. And Sora, and Donald, and Goofy, and the King, and the Queen, and Riku will all be sore when they hear who convinced me to leave and _take a vacation_! I haven't had a vacation in two years and you think I need one now? I doubt it! This company would go to shreds without me here and I'll be damned to see my father's hard work go through the nasty sewers of this island. Nope, I am going to stay, and you, nor anyone else, can convince me otherwise!" Just for added emphasis, Kairi slammed her palm on the desk, making the papers rattle uncomfortably.

"Are you quite done now?" Came a fluid masculine voice like steel, and Kairi's anger fizzled and popped. "Who said I would be sore against this poor old lady trying to give you a break?"

She didn't even have to turn to look who it was; the steely voice and lazy drawl gave him away. "Riku!" She exclaimed happily, turning to see her smirking handsome friend. Her earlier anger gone and forgotten, Kairi rushed up to him and squeezed him around his torso tightly. When she let go, the excited woman had a barrage of questions for her best friend. "How is everyone? The King? Sora? I'm sure Goofy and Donald are doing just fine… What about the Queen? Have you guys seen any more heartless? No more Organization members running about, right? Of course not, you guys got them a long time ago. No more ugly Ansem-seeking business, right? Because if I find out they put our other best friend on another long journey without me knowing, I'm going to give them an earful when I order my next shipment of catfish from Disney Castle." She grinned and happily clapped her hands. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Riku, with his bewildered face plastered on and his eyebrow raised high, said slowly, "No, I don't remember them putting Sora on another quest. And…everyone is alright I guess, but I had other news for you." He nodded his head, determined to get the information out before Kairi even had to have time to ramble again. "Donald finally proposed and the wedding is in three months. Daisy wants you at the castle pronto to help arrange the whole thing."

It was Kairi's turn to have her mouth drop open stupidly. "H-he proposed?" Riku nodded, actually a bit wary about her reaction. "When did he propose?"

"About a week ago, as far as I'm told." Riku shrugged and clashed eyes with the mounting paperwork on Kairi's desk.

"No one told me!" Kairi whispered angrily, but she decided not to vent out her anger on poor Riku. Oh no, the Court Magician of Disney Castle was going to get it. "The wedding is in two months? That's not nearly enough time to get everything planned and sorted out!"

The male shrugged again and curiously poked around the dead trees she helped to kill. "I don't envy you." Was the first thing that came out of his mouth. "But that's exactly why Daisy and the King sent me to you. They knew you were an excellent organizer, as they have dealt with agreements and have exchanged with you for your business in the past." He poked through some more files and quizzically turned around. "How do you deal with all this paperwork?"

It was Kairi's turn to shrug. "You get used to it after a while."

"I'm sure. Well, anyways, I was supposed to actually ask you, but I decided that you would come if you wanted to or not. As either way would be fitting to get you there. I don't want the duck's little mating process thing be ruined just because you're stubborn and won't leave your business." Riku stood to his full height and raised an eyebrow at the stock still Mrs. Naito. "Why are you still here?"

But before she could answer, Kairi stepped into his line of vision, and he could clearly see the raging burn of anger searing through his pupils. With an exaggerated sigh and a cross of arms, Riku leaned against the counter and waited for her speech. "First of all," she started, pointing a finger towards her cowering secretary, "Mrs. Naito did nothing to you." The old woman, seeing that the infuriated Kairi was on her side, sniffed and curtly nodded. Riku shrugged again and gave an indifferent glance towards her direction before calmly meeting Kairi's melting gaze. "Second of all, I will _not_ leave my company to just sit and let it rot."

"And third of all?" Riku quirked an amused eyebrow.

Kairi was caught off guard. "I didn't know I needed a third of all…" She murmured.

His sarcastic snort was a typical Riku thing to do. "So now, when will you be ready to leave?"

She quickly held up an anxious finger and hotly glared at her best friend. "Now Riku, you can't go ordering people around and telling them that they are coming with you whether they like it or not. You should at least ask and try to be civil." She grumpily crossed her arms. "I have tried to teach you that for so many years and days that I can't even count them. I guess I could make that my third of all. Alright, third of all, you can't go barging into somebody's office and just demand them to come like a dog!" Kairi beamed and laughed, clapping her hands together happily.

Contrary to her elated mood, his own darkened at being rejected and told he was doing things improperly. "Look, woman." He pointed a finger towards her and advanced. "You can't just go around obsessing over your stupid hotel company. It will brain wash you and you won't be Kairi anymore. You'll be some giggling madwoman that I find in the street."

Kairi tilted her head to the side curiously. "It sounds like you've done that a few times."

"Yeah," He pinched his fingers together to just leave a tiny amount of room, "just a few."

"But I'm still not going."

Gleefully, the young woman decided that she had won. She watched her best friend mutter in frustration and pound on her papers, which she thought was quite unfair to all the dead trees she had to order to accommodate her large business. Finally, after his silent tirade was over and dealt with within the complex mind that is the sarcastic and pessimistic Riku, he whipped towards her and briskly flung her over his shoulder. "What-what are you doing, Riku?!"

"Taking you to the gummi ship."

Kairi gulped. She had worried something like this would happen, and to tell the truth, she was not quite ready for it. For Kairi the all-powerful businesswoman and struggling captive was quite afraid of flying and anything to do with changing worlds, actually. Even portals scared her half to death, especially dark and dreary ones that just _look_ creepy. But in the past she had readily ignored Axel's words and just jumped straight into the dark depths of a portal. Inwardly, Kairi frowned. Goodness, she _had_ been stupid.

"I will get Mrs. Naito to take over the business for you while you're gone for however many months you will be gone." The word "months" and "Mrs. Naito" floated around her head drearily, and suddenly she felt like she just wanted to nap and hope this was all a dream. "Daisy needs you and Minnie more than your stupid company needs you."

"But why me?" She moodily asked, the abrupt tired feeling seeping into her every pore and making her feel intoxicated. "Riku, did you drug me?"

He snorted and shook his mane of silver hair. "No."

"Are you using magic on me?" She murmured, resting her swaying head of mahogany hair on her best friend's back.

"Just a little to make you sleep on the journey over there."

Even in her sleepy state, Kairi felt a pang of anger flare up, but it was burnt out before she could even grab it and make it grow. "That's…" She slurred, "not fair." And everything became calm.

* * *

Sora stretched his arms above his head and gave a sigh of satisfaction. Donald was running about, shouting hurried orders to anyone who would actually listen. He had even tried to get Sora to help, but the spiky haired twenty-two-year-old would have nothing to do with what the duck was planning. Holding up his hands in modest apology, Sora had continued to refuse Donald's requests until he hit home with, "So you'll help other worlds without a second thought but you can't even give one of your best friends a hand?"

But besides, the King's royal fighter wasn't holding any grudges; it was just in his nature to help people. So after many tiring hours helping to soothe and calm Donald's jilted nerves, Sora decided that he himself needed a little break and decided to go strolling through the Castle's gardens. With his hands leisurely clasped behind his head, the young man had welcomed the fresh air and green plant life. He often thought of a house far off in the woods on some exotic world to be his home, but when he was awed by big cities he often visited, his view changed from a quiet life in the woods to a busy life situated right in the center of the city. Basically, Sora had no idea what he really wanted to do, much less settle down with a wife and kids at twenty-one.

Besides, he flicked his gaze to the gummi room's door wistfully, Kairi would be coming soon to help with Donald and Daisy's wedding. Of course he was anxious to see her after two years; at eighteen Sora had moved away from the Destiny Islands, leaving his family and Kairi to watch him become the King's best fighter. He didn't regret his choice, necessarily; it was just that he missed the quiet humdrum of life back on the islands.

Like all normal teenagers, Sora and Kairi had dated after rescuing her a second time and finding Riku. Sora narrowed his eyes at the memory, even though it was crystal clear in his head. They had been about sixteen when he had mustered up the guts to ask her out on a date. He remembered being extremely nervous and wringing his hands together uncertainly. He had dropped off Riku first after a late night of sitting around and talking between the three best friends. The silver haired boy had laughed and had punched Sora in the arm with a wink, but the latter had chosen to ignore his best friend's silly antics. Kairi had happily called an enthusiastic goodbye to her friend, waving as Sora had driven off.

The now twenty-two-year-old lopsidedly grinned at the sixteen-year-old version of his spiky haired self. He had nervously turned off the car and looked the beautiful girl straight in the eye. Present Sora sighed and lay down in the grass, folding his arms behind his head and situating himself comfortably. "K-Kairi…" He had nervously started. "You know that I…that I care for you. A lot."

The shocked look he had received had almost stopped his determination short. "And I want you to-" His voice seemed failed and cracked to him. "-to please go out on a date with me." He had blushed so hard that he thought Donald had lit his face on fire again.

Sora sighed again and picked at the bright green grass. Kairi had, of course, said yes. If she had not, he would probably still be in mourning right now, yet it was he who had broken them up. After getting the offer to fight alongside the King in a final stand against all the heartless that still existed, he had been torn between the blossoming relationship between Kairi and the future he could have if he just reached out and grabbed it. With a depressed sigh, the young man rolled on his stomach. If could have had both, he would have taken Kairi with him to Disney Castle to help the Queen out with…well-with whatever a queen like her does. He missed her smile and laughter, her ticklish spots that took him a year to find, her tender but violent temper that simmered after a few well-calibrated kisses. He missed the way she would just _walk_; he used to tease her for being tempting just by walking. Sora did a Riku-like snort and picked at the grass some more. He had always gotten a sly look and a bit more of a drastic shake of the hips as she walked since then. It had made his blood boil and his stomach knot.

They had been like fire and ice; one was boiling and then reduced to a simmer constantly, while he was carefully cool but friendly with everyone he was acquainted with. Occasionally they had burned each other out, but Sora was always the first to cave and apologize.

But what he missed most was just holding her. A few years ago were the happiest he could remember. Kairi and Riku were with him again, and Kairi was actually dating _him_.

"Stupid job." Sora muttered to the green grass and angrily picked more than a few blades of the emerald plant. "Way to ruin a perfectly good relationship."

But it was still an excellently paying job, and he was definitely not going to complain to the King. With yet another depressing sigh, he lifted himself to all fours and puffed out his cheeks with air before releasing it. Sora would get no rest as long as Kairi would be here; she would only distract him, and quite frankly he didn't need that right now. A fairly large heartless swarm was conjugating in Hollow Bastion, but, too excited about Kairi's arrival, Sora had neglected to check it out and eliminate it. That girl would always be a distraction for him.

Suddenly, the gummi ship's room door opened rapidly, revealing a frowning, grouchy Riku shouldering a yawning Kairi.

* * *

**A/N: **I know. A little slow, but you get some background info on Kairi and Sora. So yay. Definitely gets better next chapter. ;D 

Just a random thought that I've been secretly working on for some time...

Tell me what you liked. Tell me what you didn't like.


	2. Hook, Line, and Sinker

**Disclaimer:** I own the plot, nothing else.

* * *

"You-you _kidnapped _her!" Sora exclaimed, running over to the duo and frantically lifting Kairi's head and checking her pulse. Her sleepy blue eyes gazed up at him in wonder, drinking the sight of just something that was purely Sora. "Daisy told you to ask her, not just kidnap her against her own will!" Through his panic, the spiky haired man glanced at Riku's sour face and immediately blanched. "She didn't hurt you did she?"

"Hey!" Kairi slurred in indignantly.

Sora's eyes widened. "So she talked your ear off, then." Crisis solved, he blew out a large amount of air and softly nicked Kairi's red head. "I tried to tell you that you can't just talk people to oblivion. It gets you no where."

An unlady-like snort came from the droopy young woman. "He drugged me!" She jerked a thumb towards their silver haired friend

"I did not!" Riku snapped, handing her over to Sora as if he was getting rid of garments filled with lice. "She's annoying me already."

But Kairi would not have herself be called annoying and go down without a fight. "Hey, Riku!" She clambered out of Sora's protective embrace and ran to the stalking man. "Now look here mister," The young woman murmured, waving a big no-no finger in his face, "you can't just call me annoying and not expect some sort of punishment."

"Punishment?" Riku said, clearly more annoyed than amused. "You can't even stand on your own right now."

"Well," Her body seemed to be swaying more than her finger was, "maybe if a certain someone wouldn't have drugged me, I would be able to punch you."

"I would punch you right back." Was his immediate reply.

Disappointed, Kairi pouted and put down her no-no finger. "What happened to the no hitting girl's rule?"

And in that moment, Sora decided to intervene and step between the two. With an apologetic grin settled on his lips and his hands up in surrender, the twenty-one-year-old said, "Come on now. You know Kairi well enough to know that she would never hit you!" Another irritated slur came from the female. "And it's like she's drunk right now. You know how it is! Just give her some time to feel the hangover and remember what happened, and she'll come apologizing."

Slowly, a light smile cracked at Riku's lips. "I'm betting a day this time."

"Hours."

The smile widened. "Alright, you're on Sora."

* * *

Sora is smug to admit that Kairi, having fully recovered from her intoxication, apologized an hour later. Like a true best friend would, he had smugly laughed in Riku's face. Obviously his silver haired friend had forgotten just how good he actually was at being in tuned with Kairi's quicksilver moods. He was used to her going from anger to sweetness, or even backwards. The young man was quick to admit that yes, he could fully control Kairi's moods if the need aroused itself.

Just as he had expected, the arrival of Kairi and her long mahogany hair distracted him more than he would have like to admit. Whenever they passed each other in the hall, a cordial greeting would pass between them, but it seemed that after the affect of Riku's magic wore off Kairi was her old, happy self again-with the exception of her blazing temper that was still there, too. But just being able to see her everyday made his mood brighten and his happiness sore.

_I'm pathetic._ He thought, but even in thinking that he still enjoyed seeing her smiling face-or in some cases, her brows slightly furrowed and her lips pursed together in concentration. Sometimes, at Daisy and Donald's wedding meetings (yes, they had _meetings_), he would block everything out and just stare at her from across the overly large table.

It was one of those times, and he was starting to doze off with staring at Kairi when her sharp blue eyes turned towards him blazing. Gulping with slight fright, he realized the whole table was staring at them, and Riku had a slightly bemused look to his smug face. _Arrogant dollop._ When he looked back to Kairi, his anger was brought down to a low simmer. "You. Me. Outside." She mouthed, her normally dark blue eyes livid and blindly electric blue. Fumbling with his jelly legs, Sora finally made it outside the room without falling and making a complete idiot out of himself.

"Listen to what I'm about to ask you." Kairi placed both hands on the sides of his cheeks and turned his flushed face towards her determined gaze. "Why are you staring at me like I'm some piece of meat to be saturated with unknown spices and eaten?"

The defenseless boy opened his mouth to speak, but his tongue seemed made out of lead.

After a few moments, the young woman threw him a frustrated glance and sigh.

His tongue screamed into action, taking a form of its own and wildly thrashing out words. "Kairi, I'm so sorry; I've caused you so much worry, and I don't know what to do about it." His clumsy hands grabbed her wrists and lowered her hands. "I just-I just-" He said slower, his words almost coming to a stop. "Nevermind. It's not important."

"Hey, hey, hey." She said softly, directing his gaze back to her. "You can tell me. We were lovers once you know."

He nearly choked on his own spit. "We weren't _lovers_. We were…something entirely different."

"Well," She swung their clasped hands from side to side playfully, "we came close a couple of times."

Sora thought that if she kept touching him anywhere he might just grab her and kiss her senseless, so he recoiled from her swinging hands and clumsily folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, well…"

"But we didn't." She sighed and nodded, beaming at him from under her mahogany bangs.

"Uh huh…" He said uncertainly, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "You're still as touchy feely as ever."

Kairi shrugged, a typical Riku move that even she had picked up. "Always have been, I guess."

The confused keyblade wielder ran an anxious hand through his hair and nodded. A pleasant, but not pleasant to be seen in front of Kairi, image of one of their steamy rendezvous left him light headed and extremely aware of every move she made. "Kairi…" He whispered, giving her an uncertain glance beneath his bangs and shuffling his feet. "Maybe you should go." He saw her tilt her head to the side; a sign that could mean that she understood and was just contemplating the idea, or that she did not want to leave and was criticizing him immensely through her eyes. "Seriously, Kai." The only other times he had called her Kai was when he was really humble and serious or when he was trying to protect her from something. "Go home."

A few more seconds she stared at him, making Sora squirm and fidget under her intense bright blue gaze. Finally, she lifted her confused eyes from his face and sighed, letting them travel to the floor in a puddle of electric blue water. "I'm supposed to make the best out of this stay, making me forget about…my…compan-OH MY HADES!" She screamed, losing the moment and completely focusing on rambling about her business and how it was doing. "Mrs. What's-her-face could well be trying to take over the company my father had tried to hard to build." Her wild azure eyes found the uncomfortable King's knight. "Sora! Sora, you have to help me; help me to leave and go back to my company! Ooh, why did I agree with this?" She stopped short, her hang tangled in mahogany locks. "It was Riku's fault. He-he kidnapped me and brought me here! He even drugged me!" A finger pointed to herself. "I even apologized to him! How could I have done that? Why didn't you stop me Sora?"

Finally, the young man took a hold of his whirling emotions and grabbed Kairi's wrist, shaking them out of her stupor. "First of all, Kai, you had a right to apologize. You actually challenged him to a fight." He could feel her anxiety go down a notch and decided to continue. "He didn't drug you; you only accused him of it. Mrs. What's-her-face, if she was hired by you, will not take over your company. You are already making your father proud by running the company so smoothly. And you came here because Daisy and Donald are your friends too, and they need your help." With one last shake, her wrists were free.

By now, Kairi's anxious mood had disappeared completely, and she was now staring at the white wall, her eyes glazed with thought over his words. "They are my friends; they do need my help. I've been so selfish that I couldn't help not noticing how they followed my every idea. They need someone to help them decide what to do with their wedding."

"Mating." Sora gently corrected, giving her a small smile which she warily returned.

"Mating for life is a big thing I guess." Kairi wrapped arms around herself. "It's kind of weird, being human and all but being surrounded by all these animals and people you would consider other worldly." She flicked her gaze to amused dark blue. "Not that they _aren't_ other worldly, it's just that they…Okay, I'll stop babbling now and leave you alone." He grinned at that.

"We had better get back to the meeting." Sora offered and Kairi gladly accepted his proposal.

The others had been in a deep discussion about something important when the two walked in, but as they sat down the room immediately became dead still and quiet. "Well," happily stated Sora, "let's get on with the meeting, shall we?" He sent a discreet thumbs up to Kairi, who laughed and shook her head.

"Certainly." Said the Court Magician formally. "Now, I suspect that few of you have heard that we are not getting _married_. We are getting bonded." The normally pure white feathers resting beside his beige bill tinged with a slight pink color. "I asked her to be my mate, and she accepted." Donald turned his head around to Sora. "Now Sora, you know that since you have been welcomed into this world, you must take up the customs…And in doing so, you have to be one of my best friends at the bonding." The human looked surprised but nodded his head anyways. "And Goofy, you have to be my other best friend at the bonding." The duck seemed flustered with his comment; he muttered it and glanced uneasily at the thinking knight. Goofy laughed and gave a great hug to both to-be mates, and Donald recognized it as his approval and acceptance. Clearing his throat, the magician continued, "And in being part of this important bonding," Daisy nodded her head, "the best friends must choose the bride's accomplices to take over her duties or jobs that distract her from being a good mate for a month after the wedding."

"What?!" Sora exclaimed over the hush of the room. "You want me to place some burdens on a poor girl? Daisy has so many things to do as we speak that it could take a whole week to make an untrained girl to handle all that pressure and paperwork! No one is qualified enough to even handle all that strain on their mental stability without being totally destroyed. Only a trained business woman with extraordinary…skills…could…" Then it clicked, and every eye in the whole entire gigantic meeting room was turned towards the perplexed Kairi.

"What?"

"Th-they want you to…" Sora trailed, gaping between Donald, Daisy, and the redheaded woman.

Riku sighed. He was getting impatient with Sora stumbling over his words like a bubbling river. "They want you to take a place in being one of Daisy's helpers while she is fulfilling her monthly time of being an exceptional mate." He shrugged off his rival's pure look of bewilderment at his brisk but formal little speech.

Kairi still looked confused, and she looked to the man in front of her for answers, but the spiky haired wielder of the keyblade put up his hands in defense and decided to take an acute interest in the table's markings. "I'm still just a bit confused…" She trailed hoping someone would get the hint.

Finally, Daisy herself chuckled lightly and turned towards the confused human woman. "You see dear," She reached a webbed hand out to Kairi, "you are to take some of my responsibilities for a month after the mating has been completed. Queen Minnie will help you take care of the rest."

The words finally sunk in while Sora held his breath, expecting an outburst of raging words. But instead, the only female human in the room took a deep breath and blew it out carefully. "You're kidding me, right?"

The spiky haired male let out his breath and silently banged his head against the table for being such an idiot. _I have to pick Kairi now, and Goofy has to pick Queen Minnie. Wait… They never said _I _had to pick Kairi; I'll just pick someone else and they won't know what to do because Goofy just pledged his undying vow to put forward Queen Minnie._ Having settled the dispute simply and effectively in his mind, Sora listened patiently to Goofy's small speech about the great height of respect and promise in a mating session. When the loyal knight was finished, he licked his dry lips and nervously said, "Well, what if I don't want Kairi to take up a responsible job like that?"

Now, every eye in the room was on him, and he wasn't all that sure that he quite liked it. "What do you mean, not picking Kairi?" Came Riku's blunt question.

"W-well, I think she has enough on her agenda already…" Sora squirmed and cast an anxious glance towards the woman in question. Kairi was wide eyed and looking as if she was caught in between readily backing him up or just brushing it off and taking the responsibility. "See…she's already paranoid-"

"I am not!" Kairi denied quickly.

"-and I personally don't want to see her get too stressed out over this mating…" He finished uncertainly, clasping his hands nervously under the large, rectangular table. Mumbling something more, he squirmed again and cast his eyes around the table warily. Riku was giving him a full-on glare of disappointment, which Sora admitted he deserved. Goofy looked bewildered, as if the very thought of someone besides Kairi doing Daisy's job was beyond him. He trailed his eyes to Donald and the Princess of Disney Castle herself. They both looked a little hopeless and crestfallen, and Sora immediately felt guilty for putting Kairi's happiness before theirs at a time like this. After all, this mating ordeal was a big event, and he didn't want to ruin it for the whole wedding party. "Look, forget it." He mumbled, a note of shame to his voice.

Not wanting to have his friend embarrassed further, Riku tersely said, "Kairi will take over the Princess's duties for a month afterward."

The redheaded woman seemed intent on gaping at her best friend. She had a company to think about. She had a whole, completely different life outside of this wedding, too! But before Kairi could get a word in to disagree, the meeting was adjourned, leaving her with a desperate feeling as she looked over into the guilty face of Sora.

* * *

**A/N:** Eh, Kairi is a little suggestive here. But whatever. x.x Thank you to all who supported the first chapter with a kind review! I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to all of you with a reply, but my e-mail is currently screwed up. So, once again, deepest apologies.

Tell me what you liked. Tell me what you didn't like.

And thank you for reading.


	3. Stressful Dresses

**Disclaimer:** Just...no.

* * *

Kairi was stuck here for another four months, at least, and she wasn't all that happy about it. Her mood had changed from happy to absolutely furious in seconds when something had inevitably gone wrong. The poor baker had conjured up a replica of the wedding cake, but the batter had been the wrong color. Instead of the requested white, it had been slightly tinted pink, but that error had been enough for the businesswoman to blow up at the cook. She had ranted and raved about all his mistakes in the large pastry until Riku had come into the room. He had, of course, not known how to handle his best friend's rabid moods, so he had soon given up and gone to search for Sora. 

But when her other best friend sauntered into the picture, the redhead had already started to harangue the unfortunate baker again, leaving Sora feeling a bit uneasy. "I _told_ you that the batter was supposed to be white!" She pointed towards the light pink cake. "That is _not_ white! That is pink! Pink is not white! Are you _colorblind_?" Kairi then proceeded to go rambling about how Daisy and Donald had hired a _colorblind_ baker for their wedding, while Sora had fidgeted and settled to just standing and listening.

Gathering up enough courage as she went on about how to match colors effectively, Sora meekly said, "Uh-Kairi-"

He winced as the twenty-two-year-old's electric blue eyes quickly rounded on him. "Sora! Do you know what he did?" Kairi pointed to the cowering baker with venom. "He-he actually messed up the first cake! That means he's unreliable, and not to mention he is colorblind!" She narrowed her eyes at him, coming close enough to poke the supposed colorblind cook with an angry finger.

The baker timidly raised a hand and gave a nervous smile. "Now, young missy," Kairi narrowed her eyes, "I am not colorblind."

Apparently, that was the wrong sentence to spurt out; the redhead whirled around and gave him a deadly glare. But just as she was about to go off again, Sora quickly stepped in and gently tried to swerve her out of the kitchen. The cook, who was deeply relieved and had given a silent thank you prayer, could hear her protests even from a kilometer away.

"What are you doing!" Kairi demanded, flinging her arm about and trying to nick her best friend. He easily caught it and sighed, shaking his head and continuing to push her around. "Let me go! Right now!" Her objections were either ignored or laughed at, and that didn't particularly help her mood at the moment. "He's going to ruin the cake again!" She whined, struggling against Sora's grip. "We need a white cake for Donald and Daisy's wedding-"

"Mating." Sora gently cut in.

"-mating," Kairi scowled and writhed once more. "Either way, we need to make sure he does it right!"

He shook his head and sighed again. "I knew you were going to get stressed out over this."

"What!" She squeaked, turning around with mouth wide open in indignation. "I am not stressed out!"

A snort made its way outside his mouth. "Listen, I don't want to argue right now." Not with all the curious eyes staring at them as they made their way down Disney Castle's halls. "We're in public, and I don't want you embarrassing yourself." He winced a moment later as his words registered.

"Embarrassing myself?" She deadpanned. "So am I just an embarrassment to you, Sora? Is that it? Is that why you wanted me to go home earlier and not take over for Daisy?"

"No," he was exasperated beyond control. All this time without her quicksilver tempers had made him forget just how sensitive she was. Even as she frowned at him, he knew she wouldn't be able to stay mad at him for too long. For right now, though, he needed to find some way to make her mood change back into the happy, bubbling Kairi that he had grown fond of. "Kai, please not right now." He whispered. They had stopped in the middle of the hallway, gripping each other's arms while Kairi defiantly stared Sora's pleading gaze down.

She tried to maintain her angry expression, but it soon melted into one of regret. "Sorry…" she mumbled, turning around and briskly walking away. As she had planned, Sora quickly caught up with her, falling into casual strides. "You were right. I am stressed out with this whole wedding thing." She sighed, running a hand through her mahogany hair. She hugged herself tightly, swallowing. "I still have to get the cake right, help Daisy pick out her mating gown, get Donald a new hat, get the bridal party all new outfits, pick out the appetizer, help Daisy pick out the flowers, get the invitations out, make sure Pluto has a special place in the mating, make a list of the people coming, book the church for the date, _set_ the date, book the gummiship holder so everyone can come in orderly, help the mates pick out rings, get the bridal party's measurements, get Donald to agree on-"

"Hey," Sora gently interrupted, stopping and putting both hands on her flushed cheeks. "Don't worry about it, all right? I was ordered to help you out, and I will." He gave her a tender smile.

They were so close, just like back when both were still just teenagers running around and having a good time. Kairi smiled softly, covering his hands with hers. "Yeah…"

He nodded, releasing their tangled hands and taking a step back. "We have to find Daisy and Donald to get this thing sorted out. I don't know what you want to start with, but we'll have to begin somewhere, eh?" Grinning, he jerked his head to the side and started to walk towards the ducks' quarters.

"Yeah…" She sadly trailed, watching his retreating back mingle with the other pedestrians in the hallway. "We'll start somewhere together."

:-:-:-:

Riku was absolutely uninterested in the row after row of wedding gowns lining the small shop.

"I'm just fine Mrs. Naiko, and how are you?" Kairi babbled, distractingly shuffling through the store and looking at the price tags. "Good, good." She saw one priced for ten thousand munny and scrunched up her nose. "Did we get the order of cinnamon that I sent for just before I left?"

Her silver haired friend watched the scene with boredom. She had been on the phone with various people about her business for quite a while now, and he had nothing to do but aimlessly watch as she scuttled around the store and looked at little pieces of paper attached to dresses. "What! We didn't!" She screamed, fluttering her hands in a frustrated motion. "What do you _mean_ we didn't get it! I specifically asked for twenty pounds of cinnamon from that dud of a store!" He watched as Kairi took in a deep, calming breath. "I _understand_ that, Mrs. Naiko, but I ordered that cinnamon and it should have been shipped already!"

Propping a hand underneath his chin, Riku watched the business woman pace across the shop from his seated position. "You call that company up and tell them that I want twenty pounds of cinnamon! We have a high class hotel to run, not some rusty shindig that gets beat out of business!" She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Tell him to have that cinnamon there by tomorrow, or he is not getting our business ever again." Angrily hanging up, Kairi sighed and flipped the phone cover down. "Sorry about that…" She sheepishly said, scratching the back of her head and grinning. He narrowed his eyes at the picture, her stance looking too much like what Sora would have done. Concluding that she was just spending too much time with his best friend, Riku grunted and nodded, and she took that as an acceptance of her apology.

"Let's get this thing over with." He bitterly muttered, looking at the white garments with contempt.

She readily nodded and headed towards the first rack. "Hey, Riku, what about this one?" Kairi curiously held up a fluffy white wedding gown, twirling it as she held it close to her body. "You think Daisy will like it?"

Truthfully, he had been forced into this torture due to Sora's quick departure. The brunette twenty-two-year-old had leaned back lazily and casually commented that he had to go on a mission for the King, being a royal knight and all. Kairi had, as usual, pouted and pleaded, but her friend had wiggled and squirmed out of having to spend the afternoon shopping by muttering, "Do you really want me to ditch the King's orders?" And Kairi, being the kind heart that she was, had given a worried squeak and had pushed Sora out the door before he could murmur anything else. Thus leaving his silver haired best friend to soak up the torture wounds of shopping.

"No." He deadpanned, giving the bushy dress a withering glance. "Daisy will look like a ballerina in that thing."

Her face dropped, and he almost took back his comment but withheld. That dress could _not_ be worn at the wedding, and if that meant hurting Kairi's feelings, then so be it. "Oh…" She said, hanging the dress back up into its previous position. "Argh, _why_ isn't Daisy just coming to pick out her own dress?" Kairi turned to Riku, showing another dress that was less frilly. He mutely shook his head, looking at the ugly dress in distaste. She sighed and sadly hung it back on the rack. "I mean, this is her wedding right?" With a squeal of delight, his best friend shoved another frumpy dress in front of him to examine. He snorted and shook his head again. "You would think she would want to pick out her own dress…" She mumbled, returning the dress to its hanger.

He watched her pick out another ugly dress and gave it a matching scornful shake of the head. "Daisy is a busy princess, Kairi." He explained. "She doesn't have time to pick out her mating dress. No." He immediately said, referring to a dress that had colorful stitching embroidered in it. Honestly, where did these designers come up with these…these _things_?

Frowning, she gave the colorful wedding gown one last glance before putting it back. "But this is her mating! It's not mine! I should be out partying with Sora and giggling with the other bridesmaids about how awesome this thing will be!" When Riku gave her a pointed look, she retorted, "Well, at least doing something other than this!"

Silently, he whole heartedly agreed with her statement. "Daisy also has to help the Queen deal with the remaining heartless." A pause. "And keep Donald in line. And Sora. And Goofy. And everyone else who tends to cause trouble in the castle."

"Yeah, well," Kairi darkly muttered, roughly pulling a dress from the rack, "she should help her wedding planner, too." She held up the previously picked out dress, with its frilly sleeves and all. The silver haired man crossed his arms and gave her another pointed look. "Okay, okay. I'm putting it back, see?" She held up her empty hands in surrender. "All gone."

"Daisy has other duties as a princess to adhere to also." He continued, eyeing the redhead warily for her next absurd choice. "She has to do all the ribbon cuttings. Minnie gets out of that by saying she's too busy with the food imports and exports."

"That's rough. I know how much my business orders from Disney Castle, so I can only imagine how much other bigger businesses are ordering… " She muttered, furrowing her eyebrows at the rack of dresses. "This one?" Another overly detailed, frilly dress came into his hands to judge. He frowned and looked from the demented gown in his hand to the girl scuffling about the store and back again.

"You _are_ kidding me, right?"

Pausing in her reach for another dress, Kairi looked behind her shoulder to see the dress she had previously picked out. "No." She innocently said, resuming her task of reaching another possible mating garment.

His frown deepening, the silver haired man gave the dress in his hand a looked of pure hatred. "Put this thing back." He commanded, hurriedly shoving the dress back into the chooser's hand. The chooser of the hideous dress innocently looked down at the expensive piece of cloth in her hands and blinked.

Riku closed his eyes and leaned against the wall for support. "Just pick one, Kai."

The redhead shifted to put the dress away. "Easy for you to say. One wrong pick and I could be fired."

He snorted and rolled green eyes behind his eyelids. "Daisy wouldn't fire you even if she caught you shamelessly flirting with the cook about one thing or another." Opening his eyes a crack, he caught sight of her gaping mouth. "Rhetorically speaking, of course."

She grumbled something and grudgingly picked out a random dress. It was simple, with no sleeves and no colorful stitches.

"I like that one." He stated, pointing towards the plain dress.

Scrutinizing it, she held it up higher and gave the gown a once over. "This? You actually like this thing?" She saw him roll his eyes. "It's way too simple. We have to pick out a gorgeous dress!"

His mouth thinned wearily. "It's better than being overly detailed."

"Figures you would like plain and simple." She mumbled, giving the dress another look over and shaking her head. "Nope. Too simple."

"But it's not supposed to be for you, is it?"

"Then make Daisy come pick out her _own_ flippin' dress." She angrily shoved the garment back onto the rack.

"We've been through this. Daisy is just too busy to pick out her dress." He picked himself up from his spot on the wall. Within a span of five seconds, Riku had picked out a dress and was examining it. "This one is good." He displayed a dress with slight beading, weaving its way around the bodice. It was sleeveless, white, and had a good amount of cloth to trail behind the bride as she walked.

"Hello, we have a winner!" Kairi happily exclaimed, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. "Riku, you are a genius! Genius I tell you!"

Watching as his best friend hurriedly plucked the dress out of his hands, he could only say, "About damn time." Now extremely elated, the redhead eagerly grasped his arm and started to head towards the cashier. "Kai, do you have the munny Daisy gave you?"

The young woman in question immediately stopped. "Oh…_snap_."

"Kairi…" Riku bit out tiredly, a hand coming to rub his eyes.

"I can explain!" she exclaimed, giving a hurried glance towards the dress in her arms. "Daisy gave Sora the munny, and with him having to go out on the mission to kill whatever-it-is, I didn't even think about it!"

"That's not a good excuse!" He snapped. Inwardly, Riku tried to remember Sora's words when dealing with Kairi. Something about not getting angry with her too soon, but he supposed that he had just failed that part. Sora had said that Kairi would automatically become defensive and irritable, and the King's knight had explained that an irritable Kairi was an insufferable Kairi. The brunette had readily volunteered the advice of apologizing to her first, but Riku would be damned if he did that. He had just spent hours looking for the right mating dress for Daisy, and when they finally find one, Kairi goes and forgets the munny!

"Next time, take your little lover boy with you and leave me out of this." He stormed off, leaving a raging Kairi in his wake.

:-:-:-:

Somewhere deep in a galaxy far, far away from Disney Castle, Sora curiously looked at his pocket. It had been rattling with every step he had taken so far, and he honestly had no idea what the mysterious abyss of his pocket could hold. So, curiosity overtaking him, he blindly fished through the abyss and snagged something peculiar. Pulling it out, Sora realized it was the bag of munny that Daisy had given to him on the way to the bridal shop.

Luckily, he had managed to get out of the shop alive with male pride happily in tact. Of course, there actually had been a mission he had been required to attend to. And of course, Kairi had pleaded with him to stay and help her out. But, deep down inside, Sora knew that she just didn't want to be left alone shopping with that sardonic silver haired best friend of theirs. He grinned and shook the bag, contentedly rattling the munny inside the pouch. Poor Riku had been forcefully subjected to Kairi's shopping habits. He could only imagine what his sparring partner would do. Probably glare at the whole store and proceed to reject every dress Kairi offered up to him. After all, she tended to go for the girly, frivolous look.

When they had been dating, Sora had eventually managed to change her mind from the saturated girly clothes to a more casual look that didn't include lace. He would proudly take full responsibility for any of Kairi's bad fashion days.

The brunette tried to contain a loud laugh when he pictured his friend shopping for wedding dresses, but immensely failed and ignited several inquiring looks. It was one thing to see his friend on the battle field, but it was an entirely different thing to see him surrounded by white gowns on the very next day. Goofy gave him a puzzled look that he just grinned and waved off. No doubt his silver haired friend was having the time of his life with an oblivious Kairi.

Speaking of which, the missing coin purse was going to do nothing to favor the warrior's mood.

A mental picture flittered through his mind, but this one he did not laugh at. A bored Riku getting quite angry with a forgetful Kairi…

He paused.

"Oh…_snap_."

* * *

**A/N:** So, probably one of my more enjoyable chapters so far. Indeed, indeed. And THANK YOUUUUU! to all who reviewed. It was mighty kind of you, even though I was not able to write you back. :( Gah. But, I am declaring that now, if you _do_ review this, I shall reply with a review back to one of your stories! ...Yes. That was a bribe.

Tell me what you liked.

Tell me what you didn't like.

And as always, thank you for reading.


	4. Thoughts

**Disclaimer:** Just...no.

* * *

"_Kai…" Sora drawled, giving her a lazy look of admiration. "You look beautiful."_

_Her cheeks immediately flamed up as she tried her best to smile and return that he looked good, too. All he did was smile back and hold out his hand. _

Kairi angrily narrowed her eyes at the shoes that she had just purchased for Daisy's dress. No thinking about Sora. No touching, no hearing, no looking, no nothing. He was a dangerous subject to handle, and she just wasn't up for the challenge.

Besides, it was his entire fault anyways. Ever since he had resolved the Riku issue and promised to help her with anything she needed, Kairi found herself going to him more and more often with each passing day. One day it was for help with the choice of shoes. The next it was for advice on what color the flowers should be. And yesterday it had been the issue of where the wedding was going to be. Sora had actually responded to each of these problems with equal patience as she had gotten irritated at every little wrong detail. The dress was now too long, the hair stylist called and cancelled, the gummi ship holder might not be big enough for the all ships coming, and Pluto still did not have a place in the mating yet.

But these, too, Sora had addressed and dealt with, giving her a soft smile and a pat of the hand when her anger bristled. Sometimes it was at the problems she had to deal with, other times it was at him for being so goddamn _perfect_. He was patient and calculating in everything he said. He would always smile and nod when someone was speaking to him, but what irked her temper most of all was the way he was always _happy_. So happy to the point that it was distracting when she had to make a phone call. More than twice she had caught herself grinning at one of his antics as she was giving orders over her cell phone.

And with the more problems she had to face, the more Sora seemed to stick around her. Like today, he was just sitting there and being painfully Sora, gently tapping on his armrest and gazing at the wall. "No, Mrs. Naito, I want that cilantro ready to go by tomorrow!" Her gaze snapped from Sora when he shifted. "Oh holy hell! I just want the damn plant ready to go for the dinner! The executive from Tomaku is coming tomorrow and I want it to be perfect!"

She watched as he got up and gently sat down next to her.

"No, I need that crap tomorrow! _Tomorrow, Mrs. Naito_!"

He smiled and gave her a considerate half-hug.

"No, no, no, no, _no_!"

With an angry push of a red button, Mrs. Naito was released from Kairi's angry tirade. "She—she just _forgot_ to order the cilantro, Sora! Mrs. Naito, the person in charge of my company! She's going to let it burn down to the depths of company hell! And then I'll be jobless and I won't know what to do because I won't have any money! And then I'll become a hoodlum who doesn't know how to say anything instead of nothing! Then, I'll probably just end up selling drugs because I'll actually be able to understand underground talk!"

But when she turned towards him, head stiff and neck tight, his look was positively bemused instead of sympathetic.

"And you're just _sitting_ there acting like some duffus who knows too much for his own good! It's—it's not right!"

He gave a kindly chortle. "Kai, calm down." A gentle pat of the hand. "Don't get stressed out over this. Mrs. Naito is just a normal human being who makes mistakes like the rest of us. And the soup will be just fine with or without the cilantro, okay?" She glanced down at the ground, unwilling to look in his eyes and believe that everything would be just fine. "Hey, come here." He rounded her up into a big hug, kissing her temple as he wrapped his arms around her back. "Don't let this stuff get to you. There's too many other things to do that need you stressing out over them, trust me." At this, Kairi laughed lightly. "Seriously." He let go of her and scooted away. "You okay now?" When she nodded, he mirrored her act and stood up. "So, how about we go find some other problems to conquer, eh?" Sora held out his hand, grinning from ear to ear.

"_Kai…" He whispered, running a hand down her neck and through her hair. "I want to kiss you. Is that…is that okay?" _

Kairi blinked, erasing the memory and taking his warm hand.

* * *

She was tired. Tired and worn out and beaten down by a regular day's miseries. But he had always been there, waiting and watching until she was at her breaking point before stepping in and making a stand. It was unfair, him waiting but already knowing what the outcome would be. Like he was a friggin' shrink that would analyze her movements. She wearily sighed.

Her feet dragged as she lazily combed through her hair and got ready for bed. Stupid wedding for making her feeling tired. Stupid Sora for being so stupidly perfect. Stupid Riku for being so stupidly stubborn. A more furious yank of the brush and she was done, putting away her toothbrush and scrambling to bed.

It hadn't been _her_ fault when Sora had taken the money, honestly.

On the way to bed, Kairi saw her image pass be a mirror, then retraced her steps and stood before it. She frowned in the reflecting glass, giving her body a stiff look over. Crumpled clothes and red hair. Too pale, too fat, her eyes were too big. Her feet weren't the greatest either, and she looked down at the toes with contempt. She lifted her hand, spreading her fingers out and examining them. Too big; she wondered if her future husband would ever be able to find a ring that fit her fat finger. Maybe he would get disgusted because he would have to special order it and call off the wedding.

Thinking of weddings…

Her eyes closed tightly, her lips pursed as she slowly climbed into bed.

"Hey…Kairi?" A soft knock came from the door, but she didn't have the energy to answer. "Hey, Kairi… You there?" It was Sora, softly calling out to her while she shunned him. "Okay. I guess you're not up anymore then." She was horrible and despicable—leaving him out in the hallway. Footsteps and then he was gone.

She couldn't sleep, even after the hallway was dead quiet and even after Sora had left. Her body shifted silently in the bed, legs curling even tighter into a ball. Mistakes of the day clouded her mind, hovering over her head like a burden. She shifted uncomfortably again, trying to erase the memory and just _move on_.

But Kairi didn't. She dwelled on them and fought with them in her mind, but they just wouldn't go away. Mistakes she had made. Mistakes that everybody noticed.

* * *

**A/N:** So, an insight into what Kairi is really thinking behind those smiles, eh? And don't tell me it's cliche for her to have some kind of mental breakdown. It really happens to _real_ people--please. -.- And not a lot of editing going on here. Apologies if there is a big mistake. 

Tell me what you liked.

Tell me what you didn't like.

And as always, thank you for reading.


End file.
